Huskies’ Price smells end zone, runs over Buffalo

SEATTLE — The University of Washington football team rolled to a 59-7 victory over Colorado on Saturday, and UW quarterback Keith Price had a big hand in the outcome, passing for 312 yards with two touchdowns while running for 29 yards and two more touchdowns.

So what brought the biggest smile to Price’s face after the game?

It was his 18-yard TD run in the second quarter, with Price running over a Colorado defensive back to cross the goal line.

“I just smelled the end zone, so I knew nothing was going to stop me,” said Price, grinning broadly.

Likewise, Steve Sarkisian couldn’t help but smile when asked about the play. It was, the UW head coach said, “probably (Price’s) proudest moment when he got to run a guy over on his touchdown.”

With Washington having a bye last week, Price had plenty of time to rest and rehab an injured thumb on his right (throwing) hand that had been bothering him for several weeks.

“I felt good,” he said. “I think the time off has done great things for my thumb, just rehabbing it and taking care of it.”

Price, a senior in the final few games of his college career, completed 22 of 29 pass attempts to seven different receivers.

“I knew I was going to spread the ball around today,” he said. “That’s how the system is set up. For me to kind of play point guard and then react off of the (defensive) looks I’m getting.”

“I thought Keith used his legs tonight as good or better than he has all year,” Sarkisian said. “When he’s doing that and when he’s throwing the ball accurately and when we’re running it with Bishop (Sankey), when we have all that going, we’re pretty good.”

There were, he added, “a lot of positives in this game for Keith tonight.”

Price played sparingly in the third quarter without attempting a pass because the Huskies were in the process of scoring two defensive touchdowns. Backup QBs Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist shared time in the fourth quarter.